Herald Anime Club

The Herald Anime Club Meeting 60: Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online Episode 1


Meeting Date: 4/14/2018

Disclaimer: The Herald Anime Club discusses shows as they’re airing. Naturally, there will be spoilers for a given episode. You have been warned!

Editor’s Note: Apologies for the short length this week! While we both enjoyed the episode, L.B. and I agreed that we just didn’t have a lot to talk about. Things get more exciting next meeting. Promise! – Samantha

Samantha Ferreira: Hi everyone, and welcome to an all new season of the Herald Anime Club! I’m Samantha Ferreira, and this week I’m joined by L.B. Bryant.
L.B. Bryant: Hello!
Samantha Ferreira: Tonight we’re diving back into GGO with Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online.
Samantha Ferreira: And I have to open up by saying I really don’t like SAO as a whole… but I like this show.


L.B. Bryant: I’m really glad to hear that.
Samantha Ferreira: I was kind of expecting more disappointment… but so far, I’m liking it. LLENN is a fun character, and I like how they present the story so far.
Samantha Ferreira: (Also I want that cat hat)
L.B. Bryant: I liked that they spent this episode focused on the game so that we could really get to know the avatar that we’re about to spend at least 12 episodes with.
Samantha Ferreira: Likewise.
Samantha Ferreira: Even that opening exchange was a great way to show the characters’ personalities


L.B. Bryant: One thing that stood out to my wife and I as we watched this episode though is that our main heroine doesn’t seem to have much of a mind for strategy which kind of surprised us. She was the follower throughout that whole opening battle.
Samantha Ferreira: Indeed.
Samantha Ferreira: She pretty much had M in her ear instructing her on what to do the whole time
L.B. Bryant: Yeah, that kind of surprised us but once we saw what we should actually do, we were very impressed. The fight sequence at the end when she finally started to mix things up was really fun to watch.
Samantha Ferreira: Indeed. That was super fun, when she just popped out of the suitcase and gave bloody hell to the professional players
Samantha Ferreira: The build-up was pretty great, too, where it had that interplay between the pros and LLENN’s team, kind of playing cat and mouse
L.B. Bryant: Absolutely. That was a lot of fun
Samantha Ferreira: It really was… the entire episode was surprisingly playful.


L.B. Bryant: I’m curious on if they are going to keep this same tone going forward or if they are going to darken things up much like the original GGO story arc.
Samantha Ferreira: I hope not. I kind of like the way they’re handling things now.
Samantha Ferreira: Honestly, though, there wasn’t a ton to discuss here, I’d say, so any final thoughts?
L.B. Bryant: I’m really curious to see what happens when we get to the meat of the series.
Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. I kind of like how the setup went, and can’t wait to see more.
Samantha Ferreira: Thankfully, the new episode went up as we’re chatting, so… lol
L.B. Bryant: Hehe, this is true.
Samantha Ferreira: I guess that’ll do it for tonight. ‘Til next time, I’ll be frantically searching for a replica of LLENN’s hat.
L.B. Bryant: Night!
Samantha Ferreira: Nini!

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